Naxalism remains a grave threat: Chidambaram

Union Home Minister, P. Chidambaram addressing the Chief Ministers' Conference on Internal Security, in New Delhi on February 07, 2010.

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram today said that while there was an improvement in the situation with regard to terrorism in Jammu & Kashmir and insurgency in the North-Eastern States, Naxalism remained a grave threat.

In his opening remarks at the Conference of Chief Ministers on Internal Security here, Mr Chidambaram, however, said he was confident that the State Governments concerned would gradually gain the upper hand and re-establish the authority of the civil administration in areas now dominated by the Naxalites.

"I would urge the State Governments to ensure that re-establishment of the civil administration is quickly followed by implementation of development and welfare schemes," he said.

He recalled that, at the last Conference of Chief Ministers in August, he had encouraged State Governments to talk to the Naxalites if they abjured violence. The public offer was scoffed at and spurned by the CPI (Maoist), he said.

He said that the Government had, in consultation with the Chief Ministers of the Naxal-affected States, decided to boldly confront the challenge thrown by the Maoists.

The Home Minister said that, consequently, there was a rise in the number of deaths in 2009 amongst civilians (591), security forces (317) and militants (217).

"As the security forces move forward to reclaim areas that are now dominated by the Naxalites, it is possible that this trend will continue in 2010, too," he said.

He noted that this was the third conference of its kind in the space of 13 months and stressed that never before had the Central Government and the State Governments worked so closely together - or interacted more frequently - on matters concerning internal security.

"In a way, we are responding to the demands and expectations of the people of the country. It is the right response. In fact, it is the only response that will be seen by the people to be right," he remarked.

Mr Chidambaram said it was a matter of satisfaction that there had been no significant terrorist attack or communal incident in the last 14 months. He hastened t add that this did not mean there had been no violence or that the country was not vulnerable to terrorist attacks or that there were no triggers for communal disturbances.

"We must remain vigilant. We must continue the work on enhancing capacity. And we must reform our institutions and systems of governance in order to pre-empt terrorist threats and prevent communal discord," he said.

He said that last year there were 499 incidents in Jammu and Kashmir in which 78 civilians and 64 members of the security forces were killed and 239 terrorists/militants were neutralised.

He said that, however, there had been an increase in the number of attempts to infiltrate militants into India and in the number of encounters on the Indian side of the border. So far, 16 militants had been killed and 16 more arrested.

The Home Minister referred to the meeting held last week at Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK) and attended by militant groups, including the Lashkar-e-Toiba and Hizbul Mujahideen.

"It is clear that these groups are implacably opposed to India; their weapons are mayhem and violence; and their goal is forcible annexation of Kashmir. Let me make it clear: these dark forces will not succeed in their designs. We will defeat them whenever and wherever we confront them," he said.

He said that, during 2009, the North Eastern States witnessed 1297 incidents: 264 civilians and 42 members of the security forces were killed and 571 militants/insurgents were neutralised.

Thanks to the cooperation extended by the Government of Bangladesh, many leaders of insurgent groups were forced to return to India and have either surrendered to or have been apprehended by security forces, he said.

"Our determined effort to curb insurgency and violence has had a salutary effect and many insurgent groups have laid down arms and come forward to hold talks with the State Government concerned and the Central Government," he said.

Mr Chidambaram said that, for the first time, the Government had a baseline on the capacity of the States and the measures that are being taken to meet the challenges of internal security.

He dwelt at length on the unfulled vacancies in the State Police Forces, which he said reflected a very unsatisfactory state of affairs.

"There is no reason why States should not press the accelerator on recruitment and fill the vacancies. In July 2009, we had commended to the States a new, transparent, technology-driven procedure for recruitment. Only a few States have adopted or indicated willingness to adopt the new procedure," he said.

In his view, the real problem behind tardy recruitment is the failure to provide adequate funds under the head ‘Police’. The total budgetary support by all States/UTs for Police in 2008-09 Revised Estimates was Rs.36,434 crore and this increased to Rs.44,354 crore in 2009-10 Budget Estimates, marking an increase of 21.7 per cent. About 75-80 per cent of this amount goes to pay salaries, leaving very little for training, weapons and modernisation.

"As a proportion of the total budgeted expenditure of all States/UTs in 2009-10, the allocation to police is a meagre 4.3 per cent. In my view, the subject ‘Police’ does not receive the kind of budgetary support that is required to make the police force in the State a strong and effective instrument of security. I would urge Chief Ministers to recognise the priority that must be accorded to security and ensure that in the State Budget for 2010-11 larger allocations are made for ‘Police’," he said.

"It is universally acknowledged that in matters concerning security there is no substitute for ‘putting more men and women on the street’. That is why I urge you to quicken the pace of recruitment to the police force in your State. But even as you add more personnel, some of them must be dedicated to specialised functions such as Intelligence, Anti Terrorist Unit, Quick Response Teams, Industrial Security Force and Coastal Security," he said.

Mr Chidambaram noted that, based on the responses to a questionnaire sent out by the Centre, only nine States and Union Territories had a separate cadre for intelligence and only 16 States/UTs had accepted the scheme suggested by the Intelligence Bureau to restructure the State Special Branch. While nearly all States have set up Quick Response Teams, six had not yet set up an Anti-Terrorist Unit, he pointed out.

He said police reform in the States was also a story of slow progress, with not all States complying with the directions of the Supreme Court in Prakash Singh and others vs. Union of India.

He said 22 States had not yet enacted a new Police Act; 19 States had not yet set up a Police Complaints Authority; and 24 States had not yet established a State Security Commission. Besides, most States have not yet segregated the 'law and order" and "investigation" functions, he said, and urged the Chief Ministers to pay urgent attention to these matters.

Mr Chidambaram spelt out in detail the action taken by the Central Government on items which the States had wanted it to examine and act upon.

He said the Multi Agency Centre (MAC) has already established connectivity with the S-MAC in the State capitals and the Special Branch of the State. By April 30 this year, new hardware will be installed in the S-MACs and the Special Branch Control Rooms and seamless, secure, round-the-clock connectivity will be established.

He said the Centre proposed to continue the Modernisation of Police Force Scheme. In-principle approval has been given for 2010-11 and, after receiving the report of the study commissioned by the Bureau of Police Research & Development (BPR&D), we propose to formulate the second phase of the scheme to begin in the year 2011-12.

The Home Minister said mega-city policing was high on the agenda. The Centre is examining a scheme that will cover the seven metropolitan cities and some other cities. A detailed project report for the seven metropolitan cities at an estimated cost of Rs.600 crore is under preparation.

He said the Centre had already circulated a revised surrender-cum-rehabilitation scheme for militants in the North Eastern States as well as in the Naxal-affected States. Stipend for surrendered cadres has been enhanced.

He said Rs.10.50 crore had been released to establish seven counter insurgency and anti-terrorism schools in five States. Of these, the school in Orissa has started a 13-week training course for the first batch. The school in Bihar will start the training from March 1, while the other schools are likely to do so by March 31.

Apart from the IB Central Training School, IB has set up two Regional Training Centres at Kolkata and Tiruvananthapuram. A Central Academy for Police Training will come up in Bhopal and is expected to be functional in 2011-12, he said.

The Home Minister said the Government was strengthening security along the India-Nepal border. Under the Coastal Security scheme, 64 out of 73 coastal police stations that were sanctioned are operational.

He also said that the Centre had, to the extent possible, accommodated the States' requests for procurement of weapons in the on-going procurement of Central Para-Military Forces (CPMFs). These include 1,119 pistols, 400 assault rifles, 7,250 AK 47 rifles and 277 sniper rifles.

Mr Chidambaram said strengthening the security system required more than a vision and a plan. "It requires hard work. Actually, it requires sustained hard work and eternal vigilance," he remarked.

"The Constitution has assigned to the States the legislative and executive powers in respect of ‘public order’ and ‘police’. The same Constitution has assigned to the Central Government the duty ‘to protect every State against external aggression and internal disturbance’. We are, therefore, bound by the Constitution to work together. On behalf of the Government of India, I offer to work with you in a spirit of partnership, and I am sure you will reciprocate my offer," he added.

NNN